that is all for us, tomorrow, anderson cooper holds a special town hall on guns, on the number one issue facing us. that is tomorrow tonight. and anderson cooper starts right now, gabrielle giffords, whose life was changed by a gunman, was on capitol hill today, speaking on a subject, preventing another situation like tucson or newtown from happening, keep in mind, we're trying to figure out. and a snow mobile flipping, landed on its rider, there was another incident where they went running into riders, why we'll take a look at some of these

extreme sports, we begin in rural alabama, with a little boy's life at stake. a 6-year-old, who needs medication, being held by a suspected killer in a bunker, surrounded by authorities. authorities have not released the suspect's name, but neighbors say he is a 65-year-old man by the name of jimmy lee dikes, who is paranoid, that is how they described him. he had a run-in last year with neighbors. he is in the bunker in the front yard with the 6-year-old child. now the standoff began yesterday when the gunman, allegedly dikes, stepped on the school bus, demanding two boys. when the driver tried to stop him, the gunman fired shots and killed the driver, who is being hailed as a hero tonight. the gunman got away with one child, who as we say is in the bunker with the child. also with us, byron sage, and

because the suspect allegedly holds extremist views, according to neighbors, george, you're on the ground there, what is the latest. >> reporter: a short time ago, they came out to announce they don't believe he has been hurt or harmed in any way. that is very good, very important news. they say the negotiations with jimmy dikes are still continuing, and through the course of it we learned interesting stuff. we learned they were able to get the young boy crayons and a coloring book that he requested. but more importantly, they were able to get him the medications that he needs. i spoke to steve klaus, who is in touch with the family. he says that the family is relieved they were able to get the medication to him. but also as every hour passes, you know, these are desperate times for them, anderson, take a

listen. >> the family was camped out when they heard about it. we got in touch with them to make sure they got what they needed. they're just holding on by a thread, hoping to get a resolution and get their young son back. >> reporter: and this situation continues hour by hour, we saw a new group of investigators who came in and continued to relieve each other. just to make sure everyone is here in place to watch this situation 24 hours as this continues. >> byron, you say the critical component here is that this alleged gunman apparently didn't know the boy that he allegedly kidnapped. why is that so important? >> reporter: it is key, because if an individual is known previously, there is a much higher potential exposure to violence. here, it would appear that this

individual boy was taken in a classic hostage sense as leverage. so that -- it is a very important aspect of the situation. >> and what is now the most important thing right now for law enforcement who are basically surrounding this, and on the scene? >> patience, patience. >> patience. >> patience and the opportunity for the negotiation team to develop a rapport and trust with the individual that has taken the hostage and that only comes with time. >> mark, i know jimmy lee dikes was not on the radar of the law center. what are they telling you tonight? >> well, what they have told us. and these are investigators in the hood county -- the dale county sheriff's office, is that this man was quite well known to his neighbors for holding apparently quite strong anti-government views, whatever that may mean, precisely. and also that he was known as a

survivalist. the chief investigator described him as anti-america. this, according to neighbors. he also talked about what a loner he was. apparently, he had virtually no contact with people around him. and that is about what we heard. what we have not been able to do is connect this man to any group that we know of. >> george, what have you been hearing from neighbors, people in the area about this man's behavior? seems like from what mark is saying from what he heard from investigators, this guy was well known. >> reporter: well, anderson, yes, we spoke to jimmy davis, a neighbor here nearby. and he described dikes as paranoid, certainly a vietnam vet, but a person who believed in alien abductions, so they were supposed to be in court today for an incident that happened back in december. this was a confrontation between the two men, a situation where dikes became upset, and davis says he pulled a pistol on him.

take a listen to this. >> he pulled a pistol out, and by the time i seen the pistol i took off on the truck pulling the trailer. and i made it probably ten foot, and he fired the gun twice. >> so davis was in his pickup truck with his mother, with his young daughter and this happened. so this is a situation where people who know dikes, they say that there were signs all along that he may be unstable. >> and he was due in court for that incident? >> yeah, yeah, it was a charge of menacing. so again, not in court today in this bunker. it has been there going on day two, going on now, day three, you know, we just continue to see it drag out anderson. >> byron, as a negotiator, you talk about trying to build rapport, trying to build trust. how do you do that with a neighbor who they say is paranoid and has a court case and has allegedly shot at somebody? >> first of all the negotiatior

need to recognize that, but set it aside. compartmentalize it, you can't be predisposed to put a character to this individual. let it manifest itself through dialogue. if he has these kind of issues, paranoia and so forth, he has a story. obviously, he would not have initiated this action, taken the course of action that he has done unless he wanted to try to put across some sort of statement. it will be the negotiator's responsibility to try to draw that out as they get his emotionality down and allow him to become more rational. >> and byron, the fact that this has gone on now in day two, does time work in the law enforcement's favor? >> this is a -- this is a -- this is a true hostage

situation. it is not a pseudo-hostage situation. the person -- this young boy has been taken hostage purely for leverage purposes. so the passage of time in that context is incredibly important. and frankly, i think the family hopefully can take a little positive aspect, or positive hope from that fact that he is allowed them to deliver medication. he has provided them -- particularly if the boy requested the coloring book and so forth, and then allowed that to be delivered, those are huge indicators of progress. >> well, that is certainly some good news to end on tonight and we'll continue to watch this. byron sage, i appreciate your expertise, you can follow me on twitter right now at anderson cooper. we'll let you know about

developments. and no shortage of passion from the senate hearings, from gabrielle giffords, and others testifying. where are the solid facts and why are they so hard to come by. we're keeping them honest. also, talking about the strategies in the city. and later, super bowl great, ray lewis, but there is another chapter, a much darker one to the ray lewis story, we'll tell you about it when we continue. [ tylenol bottle ] nyquil what are you doing? [ nyquil bottle ] just reading your label. wait...you relieve nasal congestion? sure don't you? [ nyquil bottle ] dude! [ female announcer ] tylenol® cold multi-symptom nighttime

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welcome back, well, a man

holds a child at gunpoint after shooting and killing a school bus driver, the lead story tonight. and another man walks into a phoenix office building, wounding one, killing another. there were other stories, some far worse, how big a role does easy access to firearms play in violent crimes like this? that is the question, and crucially, how do we really know what the true facts are? now, are both sides building their cases on shaky factual ground. today, during a senate hearing, former congresswoman gabrielle giffords testified and spoke of the need for action. >> thank you for inviting me here today. this is an important conversation. for our children, for our communities. for democrats and republicans.

speaking is difficult. but i need to say something important. violence is a big problem. too many children are dying. too many children. we must do something. it will be hard. but the time is now. you must act, be bold, be courageous, americans are counting on you. thank you. >> well, she spoke from handwritten notes which were posted on the facebook page of the gun reform group that she and her husband, former

astronaut, mark kelly, founded. commander kelly at one point answered mr. lapierre's claim that background checks don't need to be made universal. >> my wife would not be sitting in this seat, she would not have been sitting here today if we had stronger background checks. >> the nra position, and shared by many people, is that criminals would still be able to get and use firearms and banning high-capacity rifles still would not work. and banning the semiautomatic weapons, such as the ones used in aurora and elsewhere. the assault weapons ban that was in effect in 1994, they used it to make their case, listen. >> they prove that it had no impact on lowering crime. >> the department of justice report assault weapons as a percentage of gun traces, we chose the 70% decline. >> while armed security works,

gun bans do not. >> i have been in law enforcement for nearly 35 years and i have seen an explosion of fire power since the assault weapons ban expired. victims are being riddled with multiple gunshots. >> reenact the law that according to the department of justice did absolutely nothing to reduce gun violence. >> the 1994 assault weapon ban did not stop columbine. the justice department found the ban ineffective. >> you may hear both sides and say both sides cannot be right. the problem is there is really no clear-cut way of telling who is, not just because each side could says the other of cherry-picking the data. the problem is there is not enough data to challenge. take a look at the report on the existing body of knowledge. they quote, none of the existing sources of statistics provide either comprehensive, timely or accurate data with which to

assess definitely whether there is a cause between firearms and violence. a big reason, the congress doesn't pay for it. take a look, from 1993 to 1996, congressional indicated about two and a half million so the cdc could study gun violence. but the money has dried up, averaging just $100,000 in a budget of nearly 6 billion. having said that, that has not stopped policy-makers and community members from doing what they can with what they have in the struggle against gun violence, learning as they go. few know that better than congressman ray kelly, who joins me now. >> you pointed out that the problems such as handguns on the streets, will anything in the way of control, whether it is limiting high-capacity magazines

or further background checks, will that limit the number of handguns you will see? >> i think it can have an effect. there is no easy answer to the proble problem. >> when -- i mean, everybody is focusing on semiautomatic assault-type rifles, semiautomatic rifles. are you opposed to a ban on t s that? >> no, absolutely, i think it is a good thing, but the impact in new york city will be minimal. >> you see like 1 or 2%? >> yeah, it was less than 3%. and the indications are it may even be less than that. >> the nra says very clearly, look, existing laws on background checks are not being enforced. that the number of people -- people are not being prosecuted if they lie on background checking. if they turn out to be felons and lie and are not telling the

truth. do they have a point? >> yes, they do have a point. but also there has been legislation that has been passed that limits the holding of that information. the information that is used to check somebody, to 24 hours. so the government is restricted. the federal government restricted on how effectively they can do an investigation. >> isn't it an either/or argument because criminals will not submit to background checks. you don't need more background checks, you just need to execute the existing laws. >> it is not either/or, obviously, you can do both and it makes sense to me to do both. >> what do you make of their argument that criminals will not submit to background checks? i mean, how big a problem is this gun show loophole, the private dealers that can sell -- >> it is not just in gun shows, it is outside of gun shows. it is estimated that 40% of guns

sold are sold without any sort of registration or background checks. that amounted to about 6 million guns last year, a tremendous universe of guns. and i think it will -- deter criminals from buying guns, if you have to register -- again, it is not an easy answer. there is no magic bullet here. but i think -- never o-- new yok city and other big cities are going to have to face the problem of handguns on our streets. >> where do the guns come from? because new york city has pretty tight laws, are people getting them out of state? >> precisely, 90% of the guns come from out of state, we call it the iron pipeline. >> isn't the problem with the background checks is that states have not been living up to their obligations? they have not been giving drug data, or mental health issue or

even arrest data in some cases to the national data base? >> apparently some states think there are privacy issues when there really are not. we now know that have states have held onto as much as 6,000 records in terms of mental capacity. now, that flow is beginning to move as a result of all of that attention on the issue. >> do you think something has changed after newtown? do you think there is enough will? do you think there will be a sort of legislation or at least stricter gun background checks? >> i think there will be something. but i'm not optimistic that it will be a major change. you can see as long as the can is sort of kicked down the road, we're going to have less and less of a chance of getting significant change. >> do you see a reason why some folks should have semiautomatic, you know, military-style

weapons. >> i really don't, i don't see a local reason for military-style weapons or clips with 30 rounds of ammunition. you can certainly hunt with something with a much smaller capacity. i think the so-called assault weapons, they're to scare people. they're really weapons of war, meant to kill other people. general mcchrystal has said that. i don't see a logical need for that. having said that, i think we're going to have weapons for a long time to come. >> what about the idea of arming people in schools? i mean, is that something from a police standpoint you worry about? >> i don't thi it is the right way to go. i mean, it would take an awful lot of resources to do that. i think that amount of money and resources would be better spent in a lot of different ways, even additional police officers, to move -- to have armed officers or armed security guards in schools, i think, would be a --

a tremendous -- not waste, but it would be a tremendous investment of resources that could be better spent in other places. >> that is interesting, commissioner kelly, appreciate your time, thank you. >> good to be with you. quick programming note to let you know about. tomorrow morning we're gathering all different sides from the debate, a town hall in washington, d.c., airing at 8:00, 10 p.m. eastern time. we're not taking sides here. we're just trying to bring information that really makes a difference. you can weigh in, tweet us using hash tag, we may read your comments on air. tomorrow, 8 and 10 eastern. just ahead tonight, deadly storms raking the southeast. incredible pictures of the storms caught on tape in georgia, part of a big storm system sweeping the country. we'll check in with chad myers and bring you more. and also the alleged rape that happened.

will the players charged get the change of venue they say they need? that ruling ahead. [ nyquil bottle ] you know i relieve coughs, sneezing, fevers...

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>> the super bowl of course, is this sunday, that will be ray lewis's last game, the ravens linebacker is retiring. but he was forced to leave the game in the past. we have some questions. so you see everything the way it's meant to be seen. maybe even a little better. visit your eyecare professional today to ask about our newest lenses, transitions vantage and transitions xtractive lenses. experience life well lit. ask which transitions adaptive lens is best for you.

. welcome back, a terrifying day for a lot of folks in the southeast where winter storms killed at least two people. now imagine this outside your window, that twister touched down in georgia, and left a trail of damage in its wake. cars overturned, authorities forced to shut down interstate 75 at one point. thousands lost power. today's storms were part of a huge violent system that hammered the country from michigan to the louisiana coast. chad myers has more. is this strange to see tornadoes

in january, chad? >> reporter: good question, there are about 40 tornadoes each year, but in january, yes, a little strange, follow the jet stream, that is where the potential is. in january, the jet stream is here, that is typical, where the tornadoes would be. if you move to february, march, tornado alley standards, april and may you're up here. believe it or not, in june, july and august, you can get tornadoes all the way up into canada, that is where the jet stream is. so today we got about ten, that is more than average for the day. >> and the big swing in temperature, well below freezing, much cooler again in a couple of days. how out of ordinary is that? >> it was five degrees in new york city, today, newark, new jersey, got to 64. that is a 59-degree swing

because of where you were in the jet stream. when the jet stream comes down like this, all the cold air in the north from canada keeps coming. but if the jet stream turns like this all the warm air coming up. that is what happened in the past couple of days, come on up to the northeast. >> all right, chad, i appreciate that. our thoughts are with all the people and the storms. >> a judge has ruled against a change of venue in the rape trial that has sparked protests and divided an ohio town. pictures s and divided an ohio town. picturess of the alleged victim a 16-year-old girl, surfaced on social media and led to the arrests. the trial will be open to the public, and both defendants are minors. and u.s. officials say an israeli jet struck a convoy believed to be moving in to hezbollah. syria disputed the account, saying that israel targeted a

research facility near damascus. and massachusetts governor deval patrick, naming william mo cowan. and coming to a post office near you, johnny cash, the u.s. postal service is honoring the legendary singer and in the release of stamps, they will issue it this year. apparently the u.s. postal service gets about 40,000 suggestions for stamps each year, they narrowed it down to 20, and johnny cash won it. all right, ray lewis to play his last nfl game ever on super bowl sunday. seems headed for the hall of fame. but in the past, he was on trial for double murder. and one of his co-defendants wrote a book. and just when you thought

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o . well, of course, super bowl sunday is this weekend, the ravens and the 49ers, probably didn't need to tell you that. for ravens linebacker ray lewis, it will be his last game, he announced his retirement. besides his raw talent, he is known for this dance, which his fans love him. he wears his spirituality on his sleeve, that is the ray lewis we

see today. but there is another chapter of his past that is never far away. but for the first time one of the men involved in the ugly incident speaks out about what happened before lewis's career nearly ended before it barely got under way. >> reporter: the epic career of ray lewis almost ended outside a lounge in atlanta. just hours after the 2000 super bowl. a fight breaks out, jason baker and richard lawler are stabbed. ray lewis and two friends are charged with murder. what happened next is a mesmerizing saga, and the truth is as elusive as ever. >> i have not been back since. >> reporter: this is the first time that reggie oakly talked about it since that night. he wrote a book, he was eager to sell it.

>> it was self defense. >> reporter: oakley says they were leaving the club and there was a fight. there was a champagne bottle broken over oakley's head. >> i had no idea anybody got stabbed. >> so you didn't stab him? >> i didn't stab him. >> so how did he end up with the stab wounds? >> you have to read the book to find out. >> reporter: after the fight, lewis and his friends sped off in this limo. i was never clear how two end up in the fight with the other guys and two end up dead, right? nobody is ever convicted. and how they ended up with stab wounds? >> if you end up with stab wounds, what does that mean? somebody stabbed you. >> reporter: right, you were saying you were not the one that stabbed him. >> correct. >> reporter: so who could have stabbed him. >> you have to read the book and find out if i know or not. >> reporter: are you saying that somebody did it? >> you have to read the book. >> reporter: there are a lot of people who think you got away

with murder. >> well, that is why i wrote the book, to clarify it. >> reporter: you know people reading the book will think it is a weird answer. >> no, i think it is an appropriate answer. >> reporter: we'll come back to oakley, but there is probably an element of the story you never heard before. the story of what ray lewis was wearing that night. prosecutors say there was a blood trail, eyewitnesss and a cover-up of lies. others say they heard the two admit stabbing the victim. both men deny it. other witnesses say that ray lewis yelled at everybody in the li limo, 11 in all, to keep their mouth shut, and that my football career is not going to end like this. but the white suit that ray lewis was wearing that night was not found. prosecutors believe it was stained in the victims commute blood, and that somebody took them and threw them away. i asked the attorney.

where is the white suit he was wearing that night? >> it went to the cleaners and was in the suits that were in his closet. the prosecution -- didn't do the things they needed to do to get access to the suit. >> reporter: so it exists somewhere? >> well, i don't know that it exists now. >> reporter: prosecutors denied our requests for interviews about this story. the murder trial crumbled on live television. witnesses backtracked on their stories. defense attorneys killed the credibility of many witnesses. it got so bad that prosecutors had to drop murder charges against ray lewis in the middle of the trial, they offered him a plea deal. he pled guilty in obstruction of justice in exchange for testimony. ray lewis says he was the peace-maker, but oakley says that was not the case. was ray involved in the

fighting? >> in my opinion, yes, i don't know if he was involved in that, but he was in the mix with everybody else. >> reporter: because his lawyer and his side said hey, he was trying to be the peace-maker in that situation. >> i didn't see that. when the police asked him what happened, he wouldn't you know, come clean. >> he was not involved in the fight. he didn't cause it. he didn't take a step, a statement to make this happen. he was no more guilty than the other 100 people on the street. >> reporter: no one has ever been convicted in the deaths of baker and lawler. for baker's uncle, it makes him angry to see lewis enjoy the football glory. >> stop acting you're one of the people to come out with the bible. >> reporter: so you think on this day ray lewis knows what happened that night? >> oh, yeah, i hope it haunts them for the rest of their life

until they die and until they burn in hell. >> reporter: the most painful irony of all for him, ray lewis will be immortalized in the hall of fame, not far from where the three were laid to rest. >> ed joins me from atlanta. this guy oakley says he didn't kill them. so who does he think killed the guys. >> well, the stories are so confusing and different, the victims' families are left wondering about the truth. oakley pointed to two others who he says were never probably vetted by the investigators at the time. he doesn't say those two were responsible but kind of puts the doubt that way. but the bottom line here it was oakley and the two who were in the melee with baker and lawler, and as soon as the fight was over the two men were left dead

in the street. so wisdom tells you it has to be somebody in the group. the problem is there were never any witnesses who saw somebody use a knife or credible witnesses. remember, many witnesses were simply discredited on the witness stand. nobody came forward and said i saw the knife and saw who had it and put it in the -- >> oakley doesn't do himself any favors by trying to pitch his book and not answer the questions. >> reporter: no question, it was a rough interview and it was interesting. because he has not really spoken publicly about that night in 13 years. but you know, he says he is trying to clear his name. he walks away and says look at the end they feel vindicated that a jury acquitted them, trying to walk away. >> clear his name and sell some books. maybe you have seen this incredible video of the snow

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well, the x games, featuring extreme sports are under watch tonight after a spring of accidents after the aspen games in colorado, one man is in critical condition, another a pelvis injury. a snowboarder got a concussion, another competitor, snow mobiler jack strong, take a look. trying to do a back flip. the snow mobile got away from him and went into a crowd of

fans. the throttle was off, the boy went to the everybody in the crowd is okay. how did it go so wrong? >> unfortunately, when i was in the air with that trick, the rear brake on the sled, i kind of pushed off my left handle bar to spin around and my rear brake is right there and i accidently tapped it. because of the jarring effect when you hit your brake in the air, it actually dived forward. i had no option but to aboard ship and sent me cat scratching through the air trying to find my feet and luckily landed on my feet and dodged the snowmobile. i was so glad that it didn't hit anyone in the crowd. i definitely would have been -- don't think i could live with someone being hurt from my snowmobile going into the crowd.

my mom was standing right there, too. i was just watching her face as it was heading for the fence. >> this may be a dumb question but when you're flying through the air like that, what's going through your mind? does it feel slow? does it feel fast? what's happened? >> for someone who has been in a near car accident or something like that, when you get that vision of everything slowing down and i guess the adrenaline sets in and you think, okay, i've got -- this is pretty much make or break. i've got to find my feet here so i can take this landing as best i can and i'm a dirt bike rider by trade. i've crashed too many times on the hard dirt landing or concrete. it's kind of comforting knowing that there was snow underneath me and definitely felt a lot better than what it does coming down on the hard dirt like it is. >> you could have also been hit by the snowmobile. >> i was lucky that i didn't have to get hit by the sled and i'm lucky it didn't get away from me.

>> do you think -- there's some criticism that there's not enough protection for spectators. do you think there needs to be more or that it's pretty safe? >> i think it's pretty safe. i think maybe some things could be done but this was a freak accident. it's pretty rare that it would find its way back on tos track and drive itself towards the crowd t was pretty much a freak one off thing. >> i also want to ask you about caleb moore. do you know how he's doing? >> yeah. he's in icu still and i've been speaking with his manager and family. he's still in critical condition. that's all i can say at the moment. we are lucky enough that i've done shows with caleb all around the world in the last few years and luckily, rock star energy

drink has come forward and they are -- we are going to auction off my sled and all of the funds from that are going to be going towards caleb to help out with his recovery. >> certainly wish him the best. i'm glad that you are okay and folks in the crowd were okay as well. jacko strong, thank you very much. >> thank you very much. in tonight's "american journey" how a football game got to be a multimillion dollar industry. they are predicting a record-breaking year for the number of people who will be watching and the amount of money that they will be spending. tom foreman reports. ♪ >> reporter: the numbers expected from the big name are staggering. 179 million fans will likely watch, almost eight million will buy new tvs and total spending for wings, beer, pizza, and more, will top $12 billion.

so how do we get there from here? this is believed to be the oldest film of a college football match, princeton and yale in 1903. at that time a version of the game had already been played for 30 years but football as we know it was just beginning its american journey. >> we're talking about a period when the game was being played in college and maybe 2% of americans were even going to college. >> michael is a former nfl player turned author and college professor. >> why would they care about what the boys are doing with their spare time? the popular press transformed the game into this popular spectacle. >> reporter: through hyperventilating accounts, newspaper readers were drawn into a competitive world so violent that horrendous injuries and even fatalities were common. the game was so wild, many wanted it banned outright, prompting theodore roosevelt, a fan, to plead with organizers to tone it down.

he succeeded and football has grown ever since. not terribly long after world war ii surging in popularity. >> and what changed that in the 1950s was television. television made it possible for football fans everywhere to follow professional football and it also opened it up a game for people who had no connection whatsoever with the universities. >> reporter: tv turned it into big league entertainment with slow-motion replays, cute cheerleaders and superstar athletes. today pro football has by far no more fans than any other american sport and each super bowl is a record breaker even before the kickoff. tom foreman, cnn, looking for tickets in washington. coming up, what's a super bowl party without $65,000 worth of chicken wings? "the ridiculist" is next.

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time now for "the ridiculist." two employees broke in and stole, wait for it, $65,000 worth of chicken wings. police say the two guys rented a truck, backed it up to the bay doors and used a forklift to load up ten pallets of frozen chicken wings. think about that. $65,000 worth of hot wings. see, they are hot wings because they were stolen. i kid. never mind. i cannot even really conceptualize how many chicken wings you get for $65,000, other than apparently you need a forklift to do it. luckily a reporter was nice enough to break it down for us.

>> reporter: this type of tyson wings is $10. that's $65,000 worth of chicken divided by $12.50 times five, that's 26,000 pounds of frozen chicken wings. >> 26,000 pounds. it begs the question why. >> did they uncover the chicken wings? is it a total loss. >> $65,000 worth of chicken wings? it sounds like a well-planned heist. >> 26,000 pounds of chicken wings. that's one super bowl party. chicken wings are at an all-time high price. 26,000 pounds of stolen wings,

it seems poultry seems paltry in comparison. thank you very much. i'll be here all week. maybe they were trying to realize a dream of hooters. do you know that you're eating chicken wings the wrong way? apparently the way to get the most out of your chicken wing is not to cram it sloppily, you're supposed to debone it. but take it from an expert. >> you pick up a wing on either end and pull in opposite directions. give it a little twist, find the two remaining bones, twist and pull. and viola, hooters. >> that's my gift from me to you. before you get down with a